Red Caps

Red Caps were small, dwarf-like magical creatures who appeared, amongst other places, wherever a bloodshed had occurred.

With time, and some experience, Remus discovered that the Red Caps didn't necessarily need a bloodshed to show up, just a few blood-drops would suffice for their attention to spark up.

He'd studied them at Hogwarts, but the first time he became really interested in them, was after the accident (at least that was what his friend Lily called it, usually on an uncomfortable note, perhaps due to what followed).

It was one of their first jobs, back to when Remus started taking offers to scare or maybe curse some people for money, right after leaving Hogwarts; since he was unemployed, and the likelihood of getting a job soon wasn't too high.

Remus and Lily were supposed to corner a man who had forged a few galleons and give him a good fright. That was it. But Remus's curse went wrong, slashing the man's pale face and dyeing it red.

He hadn't been able to do anything but stare. Lily seemed calm, but Remus knew she was freaking out under her fixed features. In the time it took them to decide whether they should leave, a Red Cap arrived.

It filled Remus with curiosity to see the creature touch the face with his little hands. It wouldn't mean any actual harm, since it was alone, so Remus and Lily fled the scene and got pissed at a muggle pub to drown any possible worries.

But Remus didn't stop thinking about de Red Cap. It had arrived pretty quickly, how dangerous could it had gotten, had there been more than one?

Later, he found out they're mostly dangerous for muggles alone, since wizards tend to handle them quite easily. Remus thought it had a touch to it, a personal element.

So, for the next job, he made sure to go by himself, and, as he finished, he'd done a small cut with a knife on one of the arms of the requested target (this time it was a woman who'd been stupid enough to wrong a goblin), and stayed around for a while until the Red Caps arrived. Three of them this time.

Remus grinned, satisfied when they started pulling her hair. The witch got them off with an easy wave of her wand, —which Remus had left close for this purpose— and then, looking shaken, ran away.

And so the Red Caps turned into Remus's reputation and mark. It didn't do any harm, and it thrilled him to actually leave something behind, to not do a completely clean work, so people would know it was him who'd been there, who'd caused that. Even an anonymous artist needed a personal touch, right?

— • —

Remus found himself walking down a cobblestoned street and turning into an alleyway. He pulled out his wand and prepared himself to stun the man in front of him, just like the letter requesting it said. But, just as he was about to conjure the spell, a force blocked him out and pushed him, making him trip until he was sprawled against the wall.

When he looked up, the spell had been already conjured and the man layed wide-legged on the floor. Remus felt his anger rise as the person who'd pushed him out of the way lifted the sleeve of the stunned guy and stared at the mark of a skull with a snake going though it's mouth. The Dark Mark.

"Sirius!" Sirius turned around and finally looked at Remus, "What the hell are you doing?! I had him, this was my mission"

"Prongs told me it was a death eater! I had to come" Sirius said, extending his arms, as though this couldn't have been avoided.

Ah, of course. The noble reason why Sirius did this. Catching death eaters. Since, in his opinion, neither the Ministry of Magic nor the Order Of The Phoenix did enough to catch them. Sirius' family were all —or almost all— death eaters. Or, at least, dark wizards. Remus suspected he, deep down, wished for the day a letter would come for a job to find a Black family member, especially his brother, Regulus.

He started wrestling with the death eater, Remus scoffed and crouched next to Sirius without looking at him. He produced ropes aroud the hands and ankles of the man and took his wand, snapped it in half and discarded it by his side. Before he stood up, he took a small knife from his pocket and made his now characteristic cut on the man's arm.

Sirius looked sideways at Remus, but didn't say anything. Remus knew he disapproved of this habit, but would never say anything, since the tall boy had started to throw a dangerous stare at anyone who brought it up, especially Sirius, whom Reamus couldn't stand. Once the moment passed, Sirius couldn't suppress the urge to gloat, and said—

"Let the ministry find you, wanker" Sirius tossed his hair to the side and walked out of the alleyway with Remus, "That one went well"

Remus stopped short and faced him, "If you ever show up unannounced to one of my missions again, I'll leave you tied up next to the death eater, Black" He muttered with a glare.

Sirius looked at him, taken aback.

"I didn't mean anything by it" He strutted casually down the street, it set Remus' teeth on edge.

Remus rolled his eyes and pressed his lips together, making them almost dissappear. He hated Sirius Black. He couldn't help but feel rage anytime he said a joke that only James would find funny, or when he wore extravagant coats. He hated that his hair somehow always shone, probably because of some spell. He hated his narcissism and his inability to see past his own nose.

Remus hadn't always felt this way, though. Years ago, he considered Sirius to be one of his best mates. And all the things he now hated about him, he used to appreciate and even found them funny. How he could never shut up in class, but still managed to be one of the brightest students in their year. The fact that he was usually late for breakfast because he took too long in the bathroom brought a chuckle out of Remus in more than one occasion; and he thought it was very reasonable that, once he'd gotten to the Great Hall, he made a show of his red-and-gold Gryffindor outfit, mainly so his brother would spot him.

But that was all before the prank.

After the prank, even with profund and constant apologies from Sirius, Remus just couldn't forgive him. It made him feel bitter, but his anger overpowered it. He, Remus, could have killed someone. And it would all have been Sirius Black's fault.

So, from that moment on, he swore to never forget what he'd done. They stayed around in each-others lives for the sake of the group, but Remus didn't exchange more than "Hello" and "Fuck off" if he could help it.

It was better this way. Eventually, James and Peter started to join him on the full-moons again and they all knew it was only a matter of time before Remus silently allowed Sirius to rejoin as well. As beasts, they discovered, there was no stored rage.

And, when James and Lily found out about Remus' business (You're a hitman?! James had bellowed), and decided that, since they couldn't get him out of it, they better help him and avoid any possible sign of trouble, Remus had to accept the fact that Sirius would come with them as a package deal. Peter had join afterwards just to belong.

Now, Remus and Sirius apparated at Godric's Hollow, where James and Lily lived, to report the attack.

Remus braced himself before knocking, expecting to see Lily at the door (she had stopped going on missions and joined James on the logistics a while ago), but it was Petter Pettigrew who received them.

"Remus, Sirius! Back already?"

"Well, that's how a professional does it, Wormtail," Said Sirius as he passed Peter by and entered the house.

"More like a meddler, Black" Remus spat.

Peter let out a small squeak and took a step backwards, not wanting to get in the middle of the usual bickering.

But Sirius just ignored him and sat down on the couch next to James. Lily came out of the kitchen with two cups of tea an offered one to Remus, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Sorry, I couldn't stop him," Lily pointed at Sirius with her eyes, "You know how he gets whenever it's a death eater" she whispered 

Remus nodded and, before he could say anything else, a barn owl swooped through the open window and flew straight to James. He took the letter tied to it's claw and caressed its head quickly before it stormed back out again.

He opened the envelope and read. Blue patterns suddenly decorated the floor as the cup and saucer James was holding broke as he let go of it. Lily gasped and Remus turned very quickly to see what had happened.

Sirius went unusually quiet as he took the letter from James and scanned through it.

"What is it?" Lily urged

"Oh, for fucks sake!" Remus took the letter from Sirius' grasp and read it himself. It was very short, three words, actually. And it was written with a sophisticated calligraphy. Remus understood immediately why James and Sirius had fallen silent.

The note said "Kill Sirius Black" , and had a bunch of cash inside the envelope.